Sherlock Holmes and The Golden Dagger
by robbiej4444
Summary: What appears to be simple stabbing case soon turns out to be a much greater threat, that threatens to destroy a entire town.
1. Chapter 1

I sometimes wonder what I get myself into with my adventures with Sherlock Holmes. I was certainly thinking about that, when I was forced to leave my practice early in order to go and visit my old friend at 221B Baker Street. When I got into the house, Mrs Hudson took my coat and allowed me to see Sherlock Holmes.

"Mr. Holmes" I gasped.

"Don't tell me Watson" Sherlock began. "You've got a patient which wishes to see me"

"But how did…?" I began until Sherlock interrupted me.

"What other explanation could there be for you to leave your practice at a mere 12'oclock?" Sherlock remarked.

"I suppose that is reasonable" I said. Sometimes I find my friend to be psychic and I sometimes, I find it strange how he can come to the conclusions he makes when nobody else can.

"I can also tell that the patient in question is severely injured, that he is a child, but should be ready to be let out again sometime today"

It was then when I got very annoyed with him.

"HOLMES!" I bellowed.

"Relax Watson; I could tell that the patient was severely injured by the fact that you came instead of the patient. Your presence here today, instead of say; four months ago, clearly proves that the child is almost ready to come out. As for the age of the child? If I was nearly dead I would go immediately to the police for assistance, even I though I do know the mental ability of some of our detectives. Why wouldn't your patient go to the police? Evidently he was refused before and did not want to be involved again. Who is most likely to be refused by the police? A child of course".

I slumped down into an armchair and sighed. "He is to arrive at around 3'oclock" I said and with that we waited in silence.

Eventually the front door opened again and the child who had been at my practise walked into the room. He had blonde, neat hair, wearing a dinner Jacket which indicated to me that his parents must be quite wealthy. He also had very pale skin, which was most likely the result of his injury. He looked around 13 years of age

"Holmes" I began "This is Ronan Oswald Benedict; he was stabbed a few weeks ago and came to my practice to be healed".

"Pleased to meet you both" Ronan greeted us in a very cold voice, which appears to be his natural one. "I will not waste my time with introductions as I already know who both of you are."

Sherlock got out his pipe and said "Then please do tell us on what brings you here today?"

"Coincidentally Watson" Ronan began "My father is also a surgeon. He was a very rich man"

"Was?" Holmes picked up observantly.

Ronan nodded "He was murdered about 6 months ago. He was found dead in his office with a knife in the back of his neck. Evidently the killer waited for my father before he went into his office, and as soon as he entered, his life was taken." Ronan paused for a few moments then continued. "My mother was distraught over the loss of her husband, but she eventually recovered in about 2 months which was when the killer struck next. We were eating food together which was virtually identical, although I had tea instead of my mother who had wine. We had a replacement of a child butler as our original one fell ill, however this change is of great importance as soon as my mother drank her wine, she suddenly died. It turned out that somebody had put poison in the wine, who I am certain was the child butler, as he disappeared soon afterwards."

"A child murderer" I remarked.

"Most interesting" Sherlock mumbled.

"I was taken into care by the adult servants soon afterwards" Ronan went on ignoring both of our statements. "For the next four months nothing happened. I was beginning to believe that the killer had lost interest in me, until on my way home after a friend's dinner party, when I noticed a street child with black long hair in all directions, with unhealthy skin, and seemed to be around 14 years old. I walked up to him, hoping to interrogate him of his intentions before… before…"

I could tell what had happened by the way he was refusing to remember what had happened. I quickly told him not to continue as I am sure we reached the end of his tale.

"So…." Holmes started. "You have a quack for a father, you detest your father, and possibly hate your mother too, and I believe you know the identity of this individual who stabbed you."

Ronan looked staggered. "But... how… can…" he began.

"It is quite elementary" Holmes declared. "You have described your father as a 'rich' man, which I find a strange word to use to describe a doctor, unless of course he isn't very successful. I could tell that you hate him because you stated how your mother felt after he died, yet you didn't seem to mention your feelings at all, which tells me that you did not care other your father's death".

"And my knowledge, on my killer's identity?" Ronan asked coldly.

"If I owned a child butler, I would certainly not have him dressed like the boy you described. Yet on the day you were stabbed, you seemed to have recognized the boy who stabbed you."

Ronan got up from his seat. "Very well Mr. Holmes, I will tell you how I knew this boy, as it is quite central to my… injury."

"Then please" Sherlock asked, "Explain it to us."


	2. Chapter 2

Ronan took a few moments just breathing silently. I wondered if he imagined Sherlock Holmes to be the man he expected him to be. I also wondered whether he entirely trusted us, as he still spoke quite coldly.

"Like you say Mr. Holmes, My father is a quack, or I think he is anyway… as nobody ever left his practise alive. People just call in claiming they feel unwell and then my father would perform his 'miracle amputation' after he collects a large amount of money for his work."

I shuddered greatly after hearing that. It appeared to me that Ronan's father was not a quack but a rather ingenious criminal, stealing people of their fortune before murdering them. I didn't even want to know what this 'miracle amputation' was.

"The practise itself is rather small as it is run by two adults, being my parents, and five other children as employees." Ronan continued.

"Can you please describe these children for me Ronan?" Sherlock asked

Ronan nodded. "The only one who I've ever spoken to was Daniel Broadhurst. He was 13, the same age as me, and was charged with going round all over London finding new 'customers' in which to be operated. I know this doesn't look good for him but I promise to you that Daniel never knew the truth about my father's work... or the results from it."

Sherlock nodded "Prey, continue."

"There was only one other person who worked outside of the practise before this mess, and that was a 14 year old boy by the name of Holland. He was asked with sorting out the various documents the practise came across. He was paid quite handsomely, about 5 times as much as any other employee for his secrecy as some of those documents contained some rather touchy information which I am sure my father doesn't want going anywhere else."

"So there are just 3 other people in the practise?" I remarked quite astonishingly.

"Yes." Ronan replied. "One of them has nothing to do with the operations themselves. That would be Timothy Handler. It is his job to deal with the financial side of things; however he is locked in a room all day being watched by my mother, as she didn't trust him with the money. That just leaves the twins, Harrison O'brackley and Dick Brackley. Apparently Dick Brackley wasn't called O'brackley as it didn't sound right."

Sherlock stopped smoking his pipe again. "You seem to be quite a happy practise, despite its criminal intentions. I find it interesting how your father could possibly make enemies, if no one leaves his practise alive?"

"It happened about 8 months ago" Ronan said quietly. "My father had friends in high places. One of these friends was Vincent Von Galore. He was a very fat. Short man, with ginger hair displayed in a fashion not too different from mine. He also had a son Vincent Von Galore Jr. Despite having near identical facial features, junior was a tall skinny man, about the same height as me. Now, Vincent Von Galore senior's weight issues didn't go unnoticed with his health. He fell ill on December 14th, and requested to be treated at my father's practice to receive his 'miracle amputation'."

I gasped as I heard Ronan's last line that his father had actually murdered one of his friends just to get paid. I instantly lost all sympathy towards the boy's parent's deaths, as they must have left hundreds more to die. I merely hoped that the father used anaesthetic, but I dared to ask.

"Of course the man died as a result, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't protect the truth from Vincent Von Galore Jr. According to Daniel, Vincent turned up at my father's practise a week afterwards. He wanted the practise's employees to 'join him' although Daniel didn't understand what he meant by this. Apparently both Holland and Harrison did join and was never seen since by any of the other employees."

"But I take that you have seen them since?" Sherlock added.

"Yes" Ronan answered. "Although I've never seen these children beforehand, Daniel had provided me with descriptions of them. The child butler who poisoned my mother matched Holland's description, whilst the boy who stabbed me looked like Harrison".

"Which is why you approached him in the first place?" Sherlock deducted

"Exactly, I was hoping to interrogate him on my parent's deaths, and trying to seek out whether Von Galore has any plans for me. Sadly I never had the chance."

"So what exactly do you want us to do?" Sherlock asked.

"I want you to go out there, and find the evidence necessary to take Vincent to court for his crimes". With that Ronan took another breathe. "Do you have any questions?"

"What are the names of your parents?" Sherlock asked.

Ronan just sat where he was flabbergasted, even looking at me for some sign of sanity. "They're called Collin and Mary Eelstone. They changed their surnames so as no family member of their murdered patients could ever track them down."

"Thank you." Sherlock said.

With that Ronan got up, went towards Holmes and gave him a card. "This is where I'll be if you wish to find me." And with that he left the building.

"What do you think about this case Watson?" Sherlock asked.

"Just seems like an ordinary stabbing case to me Holmes. A child who has just gone renegade over the death of his father."

"The problem with you Watson is that you take everything our clients say on face value, whilst I try and look a bit deeper within our client's claims, and today is no different. There is number of things Ronan said which disturbs me." Sherlock smoked his pipe a bit more and said "Come on Watson, it's about time we got a start on this case."


	3. Chapter 3

We went out to the streets of London, going past various streets. I wondered what Sherlock had in mind. By the sound of things, it appeared that the police have failed to catch Harrison and Holland, or have any idea about Vincent Von Galore's involvement.

"Sir, sir" the sound of a young boy came closer and closer. As I turned around I was shocked to see the Bakerstreet Irregulars come up to us. I immediately recognised Wiggins at the front, as he is the leader of the Bakerstreet Irregulars. He was followed by a few other boys who I didn't recognise.

"What are the Bakerstreet Irregulars doing here Holmes?" I asked.

"Ronan never told us where Vincent lived did he. If he had known, surely he would have told us. He did say where we could find himself after all" Sherlock answered.

"So were going to use the Bakerstreet Irregulars to find him?" I asked.

"To a degree yes" Holmes replied. He turned to Wiggins. Right, I want you lot to go and find someone for me, his name is Harrison O'brackley."

No sooner had Sherlock mentioned the name, one of the boys muttered "Harrison eh?"

I turned to him, and gasped. He looked exactly like the child Ronan described to us. Could this be Harrison O'brackley, the boy who stabbed Ronan Benedict?

The boy must have seen my reaction as he soon reassured me. "Nah, I'm not him. I'm his twin Dick Brackley." I sighed a relief. I'd completely forgotten that Harrison had a twin.

"Dick has been with us for quite a while now. You won't believe it, but apparently his former employer was a surgeon, but he was mysteriously murdered one day. Since then he joined us, and became a Bakerstreet Irregular."

"Last time I saw my brother was about 8 months ago. Some posh kid wanted us employees to be his servants."

"You're servants?" Sherlock inquired.

"Well he didn't say that precisely, but it was quite obvious what he meant."

"Most interesting" Sherlock noted. I didn't know what he found interesting. We were told this earlier by Ronan Benedict.

"Funnily enough Wiggins we know this" Sherlock said. "We believe that Harrison might have something to do with his death. This is why we wish to find him. I'll pay the usual rates. If you want to know what Harrison looks like, just look at your colleague. Dismissed!"

And with that the children ran off into the streets. In a sense I hoped it will not be Dick who finds Harrison. I don't particularly want Harrison to notice him, and then converse. Dick might just tell him what we're planning.

"Right then Watson, off to the police station. You remember me saying that Ronan has been denied by the police. Well he hasn't mentioned the police in his tale, hasn't he?" And with that we sped off.

When we reached the police station, I began to question the police's mental ability, like Sherlock said earlier on. How could the police fail to prosecute somebody who is so obviously guilty?

"Holmes! Watson!" A familiar voice echoed. I turned around and smiled as I saw inspector Lestrade. "What brings you here Holmes?" Lestrade asked.

"Ah Lestrade" Sherlock gasped. "Surely somebody like you should know exactly why I'm here."

"Let me guess, you're on the trail on yet another mystery, and you need our help."

"Hmmm… to an extent" Sherlock answered.

"Come in then and tell me what you need" Lestrade said.

We did more or less what Ronan told us to Lestrade. Holmes was not exactly happy with this, but we had no other option. The police was hiding something and we needed to know what.

"Hmm…" Lestrade muttered. "That sounds suspicious, Leonard; who was in charge of the Eelstone murder case."

"Just a minute" a blonde haired man answered who looks like he's involved in documentation. "Ah here we are Lestrade, it was Lawrence Zidane."

As soon as the detective's name was mentioned Lestrade had gone very red. I had a feeling that whoever inspector Zidane is, he is not someone who Lestrade is friendly with.

"Lawrence… Zidane?" Lestrade questioned frustratingly.

"That's what it says here." Leonard replied.

"Come with me you two." Lestrade said referring to me and Holmes.

Lestrade directed us to the office of Inspector Zidane. When I had a look inside, I suddenly realised why Lestrade seemed so angry at the sound of 'Lawrence Zidane'. There were 4 men in the room. 3 of them were ordinary constables, but the other one was the detective. All of which were drinking rather expensive looking wine. He had extremely pale skin, to the extent he looked paler than Ronan Benedict, the child who'd been stabbed. He also had very long black hair, which gave me the impression of a Goth .The inspector turned on us.

"You lot go, except you Gordon." The detective ordered. Two of the men left at this command except a bold, large, muscular man who is a lot taller than anyone else in the room. "What do you want Lestrade?" Zidane questioned angrily.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Zidane?" Lestrade questioned back.

"Just a little celebrating drink after we solved a case." Zidane answered honestly. "You haven't answered my question."

"I want to know why; Vincent Von Galore Junior isn't in a cell, for the murder of Mr and Mrs Eelstone."

Zidane just chuckled. "And what makes you think Vincent did do the deed?" Zidane asked walking so close to Lestrade that Lestrade looked like he was holding back against Zidane, although I believe that constable Gordon was too intimidating for Lestrade to lash out.

"Considering there was a witness who identified the murderer of his mother and the attempted killer of himself, at the very least there should be a case to answer against Holland and Harrison. They are mere henchmen of Von Galore."

Zidane walked away from Lestrade. "Children are very... untrustworthy witnesses in my book." He said with facing Gordon but talking to Lestrade.

Without commenting, Lestrade began to turn back.

"Just one more thing Lestrade." Zidane added. Lestrade ignored him. "Who were these civilians with you?" Zidane asked, obviously referring to us.

"My name is Sherlock Holmes…" Sherlock began with contempt.

"Ah… Sherlock Holmes" Zidane turned round, with a very disturbing smile on his face. "I've heard of you… always interfering with the police's investigations. Well if you're investigating the Eelstone case then think again. Technically it's still under investigation. And I don't want you interfering!"

Zidane clicked his fingers and Gordon approached us viciously. I had one last look at Zidane before Gordon forced us out.


	4. Chapter 4

Myself, Sherlock and Lestrade went back outside. I heard Lestrade muttering about wanting to get some fresh air, so when we got outside I heard him pant again and again. Never before have I seen him so angry.

"That man, he… he…" Lestrade said before he went into utter rage which I normally didn't connect with Lestrade. Eventually Lestrade bid us good day and stormed back inside.

"What did you think about inspector Zidane Watson?" Sherlock asked quite pleasantly.

"Well I've never seen a man quite so vulgar." I replied much less pleasantly due to the man I was talking about.

"Was there anything Zidane said which troubled you Watson?" Sherlock asked yet again pleasantly. I stared at him in astonishment.

"You mean he's hiding something?"

"When we first saw him he was having rather expensive wine with 3 other officers. When we entered he asked all of them but Gordon to leave. Why would he do this? The answer is elementary Watson. Zidane evidently said something to us that he didn't want anyone but Gordon to know."

"But what Holmes?" I asked.

"It couldn't have been anything about the case. The Eelstones died months ago so I doubt that he thought about the Von Galores when he first saw us." Sherlock deducted.

"Then what did Zidane want to keep from anyone?" I asked.

"The wine of course Watson. That was the only thing that Zidane could have deduced Lestrade would say, and therefore didn't want the other two constables to know something about."

Now think about it, I did recall Lestrade asking Zidane about the wine before we went onto the discussion about the case. I recalled Zidane claiming it was a celebrating drink after solving case. I smiled to myself. Now I realised that Lawrence Zidane has something to hide. I wondered what else he was hiding other than his sources of alcoholic drinks.

We were walked back to 221B Bakerstreet where we were greeted by an angry Mrs Hudson.

"You have visitors Mr. Holmes, two children, none of them dressed smartly by that nice looking lad that was here early on." Mrs Hudson was obviously describing the Bakerstreet Irregulars. Evidently they have found Harrison. I walked in to find Wiggins and Dick sitting in the seats myself and Sherlock would usually occupy."

"Did you find Harrison?" Sherlock asked eagerly.

"Yes" Dick answered quite happily. "I've found him doing a bit of shopping. Decided to talk to him, pretended I was passing by and wanted to catch up on things."

"Did he fall for it?" I asked as eagerly as Sherlock did.

"Oh yes, Harrison was never very bright."

"Did you manage to find the location of Vincent Von Galore?" Sherlock asked.

"Unfortunately no, but what I had managed to coax out of him, that Vincent Von Galore and his other child servant Holland are going out to the Rich Wine club tomorrow evening."

"The Rich Wine club?" I questioned Dick.

"Yep, that's the place."

I looked at Sherlock at exactly the same way he looked at me. Could this Rich Wine club have anything to do with Lawrence Zidane? We might just kill two birds with one stone here.

"Very well then Wiggins, tell everyone to meet me outside here at midday in two days' time, and I will pay you." And with that both Dick and Wiggins were out in a flash.

It shouldn't be too surprising when the next day at 5'oclock; we were out to the Rich Wine club. It wasn't the most beautiful places on the outside, as the sign with the club's name was missing the letter R. Inside wasn't too grand either. The walls were heavily dusty, and it didn't smell particularly nice either.

"Look Watson!" Sherlock whispered into my ear whilst pointing to a table with two children on. One of them matched the description given to us by Ronan. This must be Vincent Von Galore. He was sitting to another boy, who had brown hair, blue eyes and a long pointy nose. He looked around 14. I presumed this to be Holland.

We sat on the table next to them pretending to read the menu whilst overhearing the boy's conversation.

"This was one of my father's favourite establishments." I heard Vincent say, trying not to look at him.

"Well I don't know what's to like about this place" I heard Holland say. He had a very high voice, and there was something about it which made me think that he felt that he was worth more than a servant.

"That is exactly the point Holland" Vincent continued. "By coming here, people can be influenced by the wines without being noticed anywhere by ordinary people. I heard that 2 policemen came here once, attempting to claim evidence to shut down this place. A lot of good it would have been as well. Only they both drank some wine, and therefore fell under its influence."

I was certain that the two policemen Von Galore mentioned were Lawrence Zidane and Constable Gordon. According to the conversation, it appeared that the Rich Wine club's secret lay within the wines themselves.

"Can I have 5 bottles of the usual please?" A customer asked. I looked around me. It then struck me that apart from Vincent and Holland, everyone else was sitting on their own and had no less than 7 bottles of alcohol. All of them were gorging themselves with wine. One woman opened a purple bottle and poured herself a glass worth. As soon as she drank it, she keeled over clearly dead. I gasped at her, yet everyone else just drank away.

"Excuse me sir do you want a drink?" I turned around and saw a waiter asking Vincent what he wanted.

"No, but can you tell me who distributes the wine now?" Vincent asked.

"You are…" the waiter began.

"Von Galore's son." Holland answered for Vincent.

"Ah in that case that would be Charlotte Jones." The waiter replied and walked off.

Vincent got out a small rectangle card, and written some letters on it.

"Take this to Harrison when you get back to the manor Holland. Tell him that the Golden Dagger is ready to be unleashed." The two of them walked off together.

"The Golden Dagger?" Sherlock questioned to himself right after Vincent and Holland left.

"Holmes!" I cried. "These poor people."

"There must be some sort of powerful addiction drug within these wines." Sherlock deducted. "Then eventually the wine in the purple bottle would kill the drinker. But did you remember how Mrs Eelstone died?"

"She was poisoned by wine." I had said automatically, before realising what it actually meant. I had a look at the menu which read 'all our wines can be bought in bottles here and are totally exclusive'. Could one of those bottles have been the one which killed Mrs Eelstone?

"By the sound of the conversation between Vincent and Holland, it appears as if Vincent Von Galore senior was also in criminal activities as well as the Eelstones." Sherlock deducted

"No matter they were good friends." I muttered. I glanced at the customers, still gorging away at the wines.

"There is nothing we can do for them now Watson. For now I think we should deal with Vincent Von Galore and that woman he was talking about." I thought that was all Sherlock had to say before he muttered "The Golden Dagger."

I had one last look at the corpse on the table. Then I left.


	5. Chapter 5

I couldn't get a wink of sleep that night. Just seeing what happened to those poor customers, who came there only for a drink; yet some of them don't even leave. When I woke up, I went to the living room to have breakfast with Sherlock. I haven't forgotten about my wife of course, but before I saw Holmes 2 days ago, I did promise her that I would return to her as soon as the case had been solved.

"Had a good sleep Watson?" Sherlock asked politely.

"No." I replied simply.

"Try not to think about it Watson; I'll make perfectly sure that Lestrade will know about this, and hopefully not end up like Zidane and Gordon." Sherlock was trying to reassure me, I could tell. "Right now Watson we need to warn Charlotte Jones about Vincent Von Galore. He had arranged 2 murders all ready, and I have a feeling he'll be trying to get a third one today. We batter be quick though Watson because I have promised the Bakerstreet Irregulars their money today." And with that we finished our breakfasts and left.

Finding a woman we have never met in London is never easy in the best circumstances, and considering we don't even know what this woman looks like, things became problematic almost immediately. But then… all of a sudden.

"Fire, Fire, Help!" I heard a young woman scream from a building nearby. I turned around and gasped. The entire building the woman was screaming out of was on fire. On the rooftop of the building next to it; stood a boy. The boy looked like Dick Brackley, but I know it is Harrison. He was carrying two daggers in his hands. Both of which were gold.

"Ya see this?" Harrison bellowed. "That is what happens to those who misbehave yourselves. Be good people; and you can live happily. However for those who don't follow my warning; you will face the force of the Golden Dagger." Harrison clashed the 2 daggers together as most of the people screamed. I noticed we were in a rather expensive part of London and the people here; at the very least must have been middle class. Yet Harrison jumped off the rooftop onto a smaller building, and then onto the ground.

Immediately Holmes gave chase. I followed him. We were grown men, yet Harrison was still youthful and we had trouble keeping up with me.

"Get off my back." He yelled as he stormed into an alley way. We were generally wider than Harrison in body shape, and seemed to have the upper hand in these narrow passages. We eventually made it out of the alley… only to be sighted by a horse and carriage carrying Harrison escaping the streets.

"You know Watson?" Sherlock panted. "I think even I underestimated our opponent here slightly, come, the Bakerstreet Irregulars will be here soon. We'll have to deal with Harrison later."

We went a rather long walk back to 221B Bakerstreet. Our foot chase with Harrison was longer than I may have described it, lasting well over 30 minutes. But when we did get there, we were greeted by the Bakerstreet Irregulars. I would say there were about 10 of them waiting to be paid.

"C'mon Sherlock" Wiggins pestered. "Hand over our payments, and we'll go." I chuckled as Wiggins said this as Mrs Hudson was glaring at the Bakerstreet Irregulars as if they were criminals.

"Oi they're here!" came a voice we've never heard of before. However no sooner after he spoke the words, over a dozen policemen came over to us and backed us all at the wall. One of them I immediately recognised as Constable Gordon. I then had a horrible feeling that inspector Zidane was in charge. My fears were confirmed just a few seconds later Lawrence Zidane came over to us.

"Well, well, Sherlock Holmes." He remarked. "Take the adults out of this pack, NOW!" Following Zidane's orders, two men grabbed me and flung me to the ground next to Zidane. Sherlock landed on Zidane, and Zidane was not too happy about that. "Get him off me you idiots" He yelled angrily. When we all got up Holmes began interrogating Zidane.

"What are you doing here Zidane?" Sherlock asked with contempt in his voice.

"We're here investigating a fire in midtown. Apparently a child set the building alight and then fled the scene being chased by two obviously mad individuals." I clenched a fist. Whether Zidane knew that it was us who chased Harrison didn't matter. I certainly wasn't mad. "The child eventually escaped, and I was asked to find him. First of all I had to think where a child could gain resources to set a building on fire."

"And how did that assumption send you here?" I asked angrily.

"Well eventually after asking local boys I eventually got what I was looking for. One Timothy Handler told me that his friend had joined an organization which is under the employment of a private detective."

"Timothy Handler" Sherlock muttered to himself. I must admit that the name sounds familiar, even to me.

"I even got a name off Timothy about one of the Bakerstreet Irregulars employer's… Dr John Watson."

"Are you insinuating that we paid the Irregulars to set that building on fire!?" I asked even more angrily than before.

"Nah I think the kid just acted on his own, fortunately for you." Zidane walked past us, and went over to the surrounded and terrified Bakerstreet Irregulars. "There you are" Zidane said before he grabbed one boy, flung him onto the floor, and started to beat him several times, before the boy who I recognised as Dick Brackley lay unconscious on the ground with a bleeding head. "Perfect; c'mon, let's take him back to the station.

"Yes boss" I heard Gordon say, before carrying Dick like a sack of potatoes.

I personally hated Zidane for this action, but at the same time felt sorry for him and Gordon. They merely fell victims to the wine at the Rich Wine club. I must admit that Zidane and Gordon must have very capable minds, to be able to not gorge themselves like the men we had seen yesterday. Mrs Hudson then rushed outside.

"What happened?" She asked anxiously.

"Mrs Hudson, I want you to look after these children for me, come on Watson. I think we better meet this Timothy Handler for ourselves." And with that I left Mrs Hudson to join Sherlock Holmes. We both had the same goal in mind. To take down Zidane no matter what!


	6. Chapter 6

I was so worried about Dick. We know it was Harrison O'brackley who burnt the place down, yet Zidane still beaten him up and arrested him.

"Do you have any idea what to do Holmes?" I asked.

"I told you Watson, we're off to see Timothy Handler. Surely you remember who he is?"

"Well the name does sound familiar, I'll admit, but I still can't remember the boy on the top of my head." Sherlock chuckled when I confessed.

"Why dear Watson, it's the boy in charge of the financials at the Eelstones murderous practise, remember. Ronan told us that Mrs Eelstone always kept watching him in case he steals any money; c'mon Watson, let's find him."

Finding Handler proved more difficult than we initially anticipated, but then it seemed that all simplicity I originally thought about the case had evaporated. What appeared to be a simple act of revenge has turned into a whole chain of serious injuries and deaths. Most people haven't even known Timothy Handler, and those who did didn't know where he was. Eventually we were tipped off that he works in a suit shop not too far from Bakerstreet. We saw him when we walked through the door. He was a short child who must have been around 11, with brown neat hair and rather goofy teeth.

"Can I help you sirs?" Timothy asked. He had a rather goofy way of speaking too, quite contrast to his ex-peer Holland's voice.

"Actually yes." Sherlock began. "We believe you had information on the Bakerstreet Irregulars."

"Oh here we go again." Timothy moaned. "D'y'know you were the third set of people to ask me about the Bakerstreet Irregulars recently."

"The third?" I queried.

"Yeah; second to ask were two policemen investigating a child who burnt down a building and wanted to know of anywhere where children can get resources to do such things like this. The pair must have been out to drink beforehand though, as they smelt quite clearly of alcohol."

I suppose it goes without saying that the two policemen were Zidane and Gordon.

"And the first?" Sherlock aske quite eagerly.

"That's the interesting one sirs, as it was a child, and he wanted to know where Dick was, so I told him about the Bakerstreet Irregulars. I don't know why but I swear I've seen him before."

"Could it have been Vincent Von Galore?" I asked.

"How d'y'know, I've met Vincent?!" Timothy asked angrily.

"We are investigating him." Sherlock replied. "We know that he asked the employees of the Eelstone practise to be his servants."

Timothy looked relaxed again. "Well that wasn't his exact words, but it was quite obvious that he did want us to be his servants. Soon afterwards the Eelstones died. I was left unemployed along with Dick and Daniel."

"Can you tell me what happened to them Timothy?" I asked kindly.

"Daniel was adopted by some rich couple who lives the other side of London, as for Dick…" Timothy stopped there. I saw tears coming from his eye. Eventually whole tears began rushing down his face. "Oh Dick… what did you do?" Timothy sobbed.

"What did you mean by that?" Sherlock asked curiously.

"Dick used to be a good kid. He went bad. Very bad."

"He joined the Bakerstreet Irregulars." I said struggling to see what was bad about joining a band of street urchins

"Sir" Timothy began, looking at me. "Are you Dr Watson? I heard that you were one of the employers of the Bakerstreet irregulars." I did not understand the logic Timothy used to deduce my identity, but I nodded silently. I merely presumed that Timothy had made a logical deduction. "Tell me sir, do you remember the Alexander Gortmand case?" Timothy asked.

"Watson was not there at the time" Sherlock replied. I was flabbergasted.

"You know this man Sherlock?" I asked curiously. Sherlock nodded.

"He was a spy Watson. People hired him in order to spy on other people, and bring them back information. A rich businessman requested my services in order to stop this man. I sent the Bakerstreet Irregulars to find him. We merely found his corpse in a field. He'd been stabbed to death."

"When was this Holmes?" I asked.

"About a month ago." Sherlock replied. "Apparently Dick has been in the Bakerstreet Irregulars for about 8 months, so yes he would have been involved." He turned on Timothy. "What has this got to do with Dick?"

"I saw him one day in the street… he was speaking to a man who looked like… like… like this." Timothy rushed over to a pile of old newspapers that the shop must own and give to Timothy if left unread I guess. He showed us a paper 'Gortmand strikes again!' There was a drawn picture of Gortmand below.

"When was this Article published?" Sherlock asked anxiously.

"A few days after I saw Dick and Gortmand together." Timothy replied. "As soon as I saw this article I panicked and I started to ask questions, Dick was my best friend beforehand you see, and I was worried. Eventually I was told by a nurse that her boss and his best friend sometimes use a bunch of street urchins. It was she who told me your name Watson"

"Are you saying that Dick Brackley could have used this man to his own benefit?" Sherlock asked angrily.

"I can't deny the possibility." Timothy replied. I had to admit, I felt sorry for Dick during his arrest, but now I've heard that he could have abused his position in the Bakerstreet Irregulars I didn't know what to think.

"We will leave you then Timothy." Sherlock said, and then we left.

"Did you find it strange Watson?" Sherlock asked me.

"What part?" I asked back.

"Remember what Timothy said. It appeared that a child which is most likely Vincent Von Galore wanted to know about Dick's location. Yet from what we've seen, He has not committed any action which is directed at him."

"What are you implying Holmes?" I asked curiously.

"Vincent Von Galore is hiding something and I want to know what.

When we got back to the building in which my old lodgings were, our first concern was the Bakerstreet Irregulars. Sherlock Holmes went straight to Mrs Hudson.

"Mrs Hudson." Sherlock began. "Are the Bakerstreet Irregulars ok?"

"Oh yeah, there a bit shaken but otherwise ok. But no sooner as they left but 3 more children arrived. 2 of them were very smartly dressed but the other one looked nearly identical to the kid who got arrested; they're in the living room now."

I looked at Holmes. He looked at me. I could tell from his eyes that he had the same suspicions as me. We went into the living room. My worst fears have been confirmed. Harrison was the only one standing. Holland was sitting in the seat I would usually occupy, whilst Vincent Von Galore was in the seat Sherlock would usually occupy.

"They're they are." I heard Holland say.

"Hello Sherlock Holmes." Vincent began. "I've been waiting to meet you. I wanted to meet you… very much!"


	7. Chapter 7

I looked at the child in Sherlock's seat. The way he sat there, the look in his eyes, the way he tracked us down. He was evidently quite intelligent yet he decided to put that intelligence towards crime instead of a better future.

"Harrison gave me a description of the men who chased him." Vincent said. "I and my classmates read about you adventures in school Holmes. It was nice of you Watson to leave me with descriptions of people's appearances in your written work." I clenched a fist. The thought of my works being used against us.

"I've seen you before!" Holland exclaimed.

"Where!?" Vincent asked angrily.

"I swore I've seen you 2 at the Rich Wine club when we were there." Holland realised.

"We won't deny it." Sherlock announced.

"YOU IDIOT!" Vincent roared at Holland. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I wasn't looking at them was I; I was looking at those fools gorging themselves at that wine." I was surprised at Holland's reaction, as Harrison looked nearly terrified at Vincent's roars. Vincent sat back down in Sherlock's chair.

"I suppose it makes no major difference. In fact; it confirms my original suspicions that you are after me Holmes. You're a private detective Sherlock aren't you? Who sent you after me?" If we told Vincent that Ronan sent us 'after him' then it would give the game away that Ronan was still alive. I was trying to think of an excuse when all of a sudden…

"Don't try and think yourself out of this you 2" Holland said cruelly. "I know who sent you. It was that Jones woman wasn't it." Silence. "Mrs Jones was severely burnt in that building, however we do know that unfortunately, she didn't die. She then asked to meet you and you are now onto us." Vincent stood up furiously.

"YOU IDIOT HOLLAND. Your theory is absolutely ridiculous. Are you saying that Jones hired him; AFTER HE SPIED ON US AT THE RICH WINE CLUB?" I had never seen a child be so angry towards another child before. "Don't even mention the fact that you just told him that Jones was still alive."

"To answer your earlier question Vincent, it wasn't her who had requested our services, but I would like to thank you Holland for telling me that she was still alive." Sherlock announced. Holland's face went green.

"HOLLAND!" Vincent roared. Holland turned his head nervously towards Vincent. "Get out of my sight this instant." And with that Holland quickly left the house, with Harrison filling in the vacant chair. Vincent then was forced to pant considering the large amount of shouting he had produced towards Holland.

"Why don't you warn him now boss?" Harrison spoke for the first time.

"Warn me of what." Sherlock asked.

"Ah yes." Vincent said regaining his temper now Holland has left. "Myself, Holland and Harrison form the Golden Dagger. Only burnt down one house down and people already gave themselves an opinion about us. Unfortunately; it is not enough. In order to raise maximum attention I have decided to destroy a town. I will give you 2 days from now."

"At 8 O'clock Hallovoy will be destroyed." Harrison butted in. silence crept itself in again.

"You are not mad about the fact that Harrison had just given away the name of your target?" Homes asked curiously.

"I have no need to worry about that. I had already given the name of the town to the police. I have given them the same warning as you, so don't bother going there." Vincent got up again. "Come on Harrison. We're leaving." And with that they both left, but not before Harrison dropped a crumbled up note. I starred at Vincent. He looked about 15 and already he was talking like a criminal mastermind.

"Holmes." I whispered quite unnecessarily. "They've confessed to burning the woman. We could go to the police station and free Dick."

"They might have confessed here Watson, but I somehow doubt that even Holland would confess to the charges in a court of law." I saw Sherlock pick up the piece of paper Harrison had dropped. It read: 'Victim: ROB.

"Holmes!" I said eagerly. ROB; Ronan, Oswald, Benedict.

"Don't worry yet Watson. Ronan should be fine. Right now we should be worrying about the poor town of Hallovoy."


	8. Chapter 8

We immediately hired a carriage of our own to take use to Hallovoy the next day. I decided to reflect upon what has happened so far. We originally started with a scared child called Ronan wanting us to find evidence to lock away another child, Vincent. We then meet two police officers who fell victim to a rather deadly wine. Soon afterwards Vincent launched an attack on a Charlotte Jones, calling his band of attackers the Golden Dagger. I wondered if this Golden Dagger was a twisted version of our own Baker Street Irregulars. I also wondered about Dick Brackley. Although he has been wrongly arrested, I can't deny the possibility in having some connection with criminals. I remember what Timothy Handler said very well.

"He went bad. Very bad."

"You have arrived" Our driver announced. We got out of the carriage and looked around. It was very beautiful looking place. A country town with only a few buildings in sight. The air felt clean and fresh compared to that of London. We decided to walk into the town, and immediately saw the London police speaking to what must be the local police.

"I'm telling you Preston you must evacuate the town. We were warned by… someone that he was trying to destroy the town." I noted that the speaker was Lestrade. I also noted Lestrade was trying to avoid mentioning that the warning was from a child.

"And I'm telling you Lestrade that the town is perfectly safe." A voice came out in which I presumed the speaker to be Preston. "No crime has been committed here since I was chief here. And there's a reason."

"Because the entire population here is about 200." I groaned as I heard Lawrence Zidane's voice.

"Well I suppose so… but look up there" Preston demanded. He looked about 50, had grey hair and was very large and imposing. However when I looked up I saw various cliffs surrounding the town. On all the cliffs there were huge boulders on the vey tips of the cliffs. "Those boulders have not moved in over 30 years. We will be quite safe" Preston continued.

"At least let us do a 36 hour guard on those boulders Preston" Zidane demanded.

"Fine. Waste of time, but fine." With that he walked off along with Zidane. I then noticed the clock on the church. According to that clock we had only 36 hours before Vincent would claim that he would destroy the town.

"Well, Well, Sherlock Holmes" Lestrade said coming towards us. "Did he warn you to?"

"Yes actually. He waited in my own home and told us directly."

"Different to us then. He just posted a letter through the door, telling us about this in words. While we're on the subject Holmes, Zidane is planning on charging Dick with the stabbing of Ronan as well."

"What!" I shouted.

"Yes, claiming that Ronan was telling the truth but just got confused on which boy it was." I moaned when I heard this. We must prove Dick's innocence quickly.

"Who was that man you were talking with just now Lestrade?" I asked.

"Oh that was just Preston Shaw. He was the chief of police here. Quite lazy as there are never any crimes here. He has a sister who works in a school. Apparently Vincent Von Galore went there."

"I see, thank you Lestrade." Sherlock said and we went off.

The school was the largest building there; it had a flat roof and two levels. We were greeted by an elderly woman with grey hair and a kind face.

"Welcome dears." She said. "What can I do for you?" She had a very motherly way of speaking.

"We want to find a Ms Shaw." Sherlock replied.

"Well that's me. Mrs Elizabeth Shaw. How can I help you?"

"We want information about a student of yours. Vincent Von Galore."

The kind face Elizabeth had disappeared. "Well he had his ups and downs here. He once started brilliantly here. But one day something happened and he became very upset."

"What happened?" Sherlock asked.

"Somebody in class found out how Vincent Von Galore senior could afford the school payments. He was a crook you see."

"He ran the Rich Wine club didn't he?" I remarked.

"Well you have done your research haven't you. But no; Von Galore senior did not run the Rich Wine club. He ran a place which produced the wines that goes to the Rich Wine club, and various other establishments that the Jarkins run."

"The Jarkins?" Sherlock questioned.

"They ran the Rich Wine club. If you want any more information, just speak to my husband Edward Shaw. He's a court judge in London, and must have heard about them somewhere."

"Was the child who found out Von Galore senior's occupation called Ronan Benedict?" I asked.

"Actually no" she said. "Ronan was Vincent's only friend."

"What!" I gasped.

"Ronan Benedict was Vincent's only friend after the information was revealed. Instead of despising him, Ronan comforted him, befriended him talked to him more."

"Thank you Mrs Shaw." Sherlock said. We walked back to the carriage, with evident interest to speak to Elizabeth's husband. I thought about what Elizabeth told us. Apparently Vincent was greatly upset after everyone else despised him. Yet Vincent still wanted Ronan dead. We also know that Von Galore senior merely sold the wines and it was somebody else who ran the clubs. When we got into the carriage I heard Sherlock say "Let's see what Edward Shaw has got to hide." I stared at him. How can he deduce that Edward Shaw is hiding something without even seeing him?


	9. Chapter 9

The journey back to London seemed a long one. I kept on thinking about how much more time we had to stop Vincent before he can launch a boulder off one of those cliffs; destroying the town. Edward Shaw appears to know something that Sherlock wanted to know as when we reached London he went straight to a local court house. By coincidence a prosecutor does seem to know where Edward Shaw lives. He was also fortunate to tell us where.

"So Holmes, why do you want to know about the Jarkins?" I asked.

"Because Watson, they are connected with the Von Galores. Von Galore senior made the wine and the Jarkins sold them. When Von Galore senior died, Ms Jones took other the business, and got burnt for it." After Holmes said it, a sudden thought came into mind.

"Holmes, are you telling me that Von Galore junior wanted to stop his father's business yet killed the Benedict family in revenge."

"Not at all Watson, I'm saying that Von Galore junior never had any intent on killing the Benedict family in revenge at all. He was friends with Ronan after all. Vincent had some other reason for killing off the Benedicts."

"Do you know what that reason is?" I asked curiously.

"Correct Watson, but I still need to collect a few more facts."

Edward Shaw lived in a rather large building, but it didn't look as nice as various other manor houses I've seen. It seemed like Edward Shaw liked the size of his homes more than how they look. A butler quickly took us to a room outside a guest room.

"The lord Edward Shaw is currently talking to two other visitors at the moment gentlemen. Please wait here." And with that the butler left. The men inside must be talking quietly as we could hardly here them until…

"How dare you!" I heard a voice shout. "My officers are up all night, all day and so on and so I can assure you that no one can reach those boulders." I eventually recognised the voice that belonged to the chief of police in Hallovoy; Preston Shaw.

"Preston we need more men. We can't have anyone near those boulders, yet they are almost on a public road specifically designed for carriages. We can't just stop everyone going towards the road. We'll start a scandal." I presumed this person was Edward Shaw. Soon afterwards the door opened I saw the 3 men get out. One of them was Preston who stormed off out of the room. The second one was a grey haired individual with a bald patch in the centre of his head. The third person was…

"Mycroft!?" Sherlock gasped.

"Sherlock!?" Mycroft gasped also.

"What has government got to do with all of this?" Sherlock asked. I must admit, I thought that getting the government involved was taking this a bit far.

"What has the government got to do with this!?" Mycroft roared. "Isn't it obvious brother!? Somebody is trying to bring back the Golden Dagger. I thought when the Jarkins died the Golden Dagger would just lie dead with them." Silence rang throughout the room. "You don't know about the Jarkins do you?" Mycroft realised. I must admit he must be in a state of panic otherwise he would have deduced this much sooner.

"We do know about the Jarkins actually." I announced. "They were the masterminds of the Rich Wine club." Mycroft laughed at this.

"Out of everything to do with the Jarkins, you come up with that."

"I'm afraid you seem to know more about the Jarkins than us Mycroft." Holmes said. "May you tell us about them? The Golden Dagger warned us in person."

Mycroft shook his head. "You don't want to be messing with the Golden Dagger Sherlock, but since they have already warned you I suppose I should fill you in. Very well. The Jarkins were the founders of the Golden Dagger. They were an assassination company Sherlock, people pay them money, and they would assassinate. They would always use gold daggers to kill their targets, hence the name Golden Dagger."

"But why are people so terrified of them?" I asked.

"With the money the Jarkins claimed from the Golden Dagger, they invested it in other murderous venues. They invested in the Rich Wine club as you said, they also invested in a train company which offered first class services, only the passengers got murdered as soon as they stood on board the train and also a practise in where the patients were murdered as soon as they paid for operations." I knew that this practise was the one owned by the Benedicts.

"So the Jarkins were basically killers in nearly every sector?" Sherlock asked.

"Precisely! Only that when they died, everything they owned went away with them. They gave away their 10 year old son away to the Belgium crook who they invested the Rich Wine club with, Walter Van Der Water, and they gave all of their money to the supplier of the Rich Wine club, Vincent Von Galore."

"Now Sherlock" Edward spoke for the first time. "Tell us who this Golden Dagger is." And so we told them. "A CHILD!" Edward screamed with anger. "Are you asking us to believe that a child is restarting the Golden Dagger."

"Only this one is more interested in eliminating all revenue streams the original Golden Dagger had." I had said.

"So" Mycroft said. "Von Galore junior is behind this." I've seen him before in a photograph. We can just warn Preston and we can save Hallovoy."

"I am sorry to say Mycroft, but I think I know how Von Galore wishes to destroy Hallovoy, and I promise you that nothing can be done to protect it. We can only stop Von Galore from launching this plot. Just tell me where this train company is, and we'll be off."

Mycroft hesitated. "Very well Sherlock, it's the happy first class railway." And with that we left.

"Holmes" I said. "You never wanted to know what Edward Shaw was hiding."

"Isn't it obvious Watson?" Holmes said. "Tell me, what was the name of Shaw's wife?"

"That would be Elizabeth Shaw." I answered.

"And the name of her brother?"

"That would be Preston Shaw."

"Exactly Watson. How could Edward share the name with his brother-in-law? The only obvious answer is that he changed his name to his wife's name. I asked myself why Edward would undertake this unorthodox approach in marriage. The answer is elementary. Edward was related to the Jarkins. How else would he know about the Rich Wine club as he told his wife, and how come Mycroft came here to talk the Edward?"

I must admit I was a little disappointed. I was hoping we were about to learn some case solving information. However all we have now is more information that needs investigating. I had a look at the grandfather clock in the corner. According to that we only had 30 hours left.


	10. Chapter 10

We climbed back into out carriage that was waiting outside Edward Shaw's establishment. The Happy first class Railway; it sounds like some sort of sickening joke. Unfortunately though the driver did know when where the railway company was however unfortunately for us it was over 6 hours away just to get there.

"Holmes, we've only got 30 hours left, are you sure we should be going to this place."

"I am confident we will be able to find some sort of deductive clue at where we are going Watson." Holmes is always so confident with his findings. I don't even know where to begin. I decided to use the journey time wisely and get some sleep on the way. When I woke up we were already there. The Happy first class Railway appears to be a small cottage in the middle of a field with absolutely no one about from an old skinny man who was sitting on a log. There also wasn't any buildings around in this plain for quite a considerable distance.

I suppose a better description is that the Happy first class Railway would be that it was a small cottage in the middle of a field. Half of the building already seemed demolished, and for what I could see of the other half, the place seemed thoroughly burnt. The old man on the log laughed.

"Bad day for catching a train I would think" He said. He had a very croaky way of speaking.

"Do you know what has happened here?" Sherlock asked.

"Of course I do. Some sort of carriage came here earlier this month. It happened at the dead of night. Either a small adult or older child got out, and set the place on fire. Poor Lawrence Handler was asleep at the time as well. He died in the flames."

"Can you describe this child in more detail?" Sherlock asked.

"Well I believe he was around 14 years of age, and he had brown very rough and messy hair."

"I see" Holmes remarked.

"What do you see?" The old man asked sounding a bit confused.

"The question I asked you earlier seems to make you very suspicious sir." Sherlock announced.

"Oh if you mean the fact I had changed my mind to a child to an adult, then it was because you said it was a child. I merely just incorporated that knowledge from what I had just seen."

"It was not that that made me suspicious of you. I believe you said that the boy was about 14 years old and that he had very brown rough messy hair."

"That's what he looked like I tell you!" the old man yelled angrily.

"That is the exact description I would give to somebody about Harrison O'brackley. I find it quite remarkable how you could describe the boy, considering you had seen him in the dead of night where there doesn't seem to be any street lamps. I find even more remarkable why you would be out on such a night." The old man laughed again.

"Holmes, you are as brilliant as I was told about you." The old man began before Holmes walked over to the driver.

"Going somewhere else sir?" the driver asked.

"Actually I would like you to get off the carriage sir" Sherlock announced.

"What!" the driver gasped.

"I very highly doubt that we are at the Happy first class Railway at all. I don't know any business like this that operates in the middle of a field with nobody about apart from an old man who appears to be sitting on a log who appears to be warning us about trains." The driver got off the carriage and walked over to the old man. "It would almost be that the pair of you could read each other's minds. Unless you both planned this from the start."

"Ha ha ha ha" the driver cackled. "Excellent work Sherlock, Moriarty warned us about you."

"So you're working for Professor James Moriarty." I replied.

"We were paid quite handsomely for what we were told to say and do. Did everything he told us to do we did." The old man continued. "Yet we still got caught."

"Perhaps Moriarty wanted us to be caught" The driver suggested to his partner.

"Well if you don't mind will you leave us now?" Sherlock asked.

"I don't see why not, we already did our side of things" the driver said before they both walked off.

"Holmes" I began. "The person who owned the Happy first class railway was called Handler."

"Considering the fact that both of these individuals were lying to us before I see no reason why I shouldn't believe that name to be a lie also Watson. Although it does show you the power of the Golden Dagger doesn't it. Moriarty must be quite frightened about the Golden Dagger."

"It's a symbol of death itself." I said.

"Quite. What does the phrase 'in the middle of a field' remind you of Watson?" I had to try and remember quite hard in order to work out where he was coming from.

"Wasn't that where Alexander Gortmand was stabbed?" I asked.

"Correct Watson. Gortmand appeared to have been in contact with Dick Brackley not too long ago, before he died." I wondered why Holmes had the need to remind me about what Dick Brackley did. "If I was to guess Watson, this is where Gortmand lived. I believe that somebody who had hired him was blackmailing somebody else. Then the person who was being blackmailed killed Gortmand in revenge."

I had no need for Holmes to tell me that it was Dick Brackley who was the blackmailer. I had a feeling he was up to no good ever since Timothy told us that he was in cahoots with Alexander Gortmand. Although a question did occur to me. If Dick Brackley was blackmailing someone, how come that the blackmailed killed Gortmand but not Brackley, and why Brackley made no attempt to expose whatever he was blackmailing about.


	11. Chapter 11

Both myself and Holmes travelled back to London. I looked at my pocket watch.

"Good heavens Holmes!" I exclaimed. "We only have 12 hours left before Von Galore unleashes his threat."

"There is no need to worry Watson, I think I've worked out the truth behind Vincent's little game."

"you do?" I asked.

"I can promise you that Ronan is not in any danger."

"But Holmes the note" I said as I showed him the note saying ROB."

"I think I know the truth about that as well" Holmes remarked. By coincidence we passed the police station where we heard a shout from Lestrade."

"Holmes, Watson, come here!" As Lestrade asked we parked the carriage and walked over to Lestrade. He was smiling heavily. "We caught him Holmes."

"Vincent Von Galore?" I asked.

"Not him, Harrison" Lestrade announced. We caught him and his carriage and he confessed to the crimes of burning down houses and stabbing Ronan Benedict."

"I would like Ronan Benedict to come here immediately" Sherlock demanded. "I think he deserves the truth about what has happened to him." Sherlock then handed over the card with Ronan's address that he had given us on the day he met us. Lestrade nodded and walked away. He came back about half an hour later with Ronan Benedict.

"I take it you have solved this mystery?" Ronan asked.

"Yes but I think we should speak to Harrison ourselves first don't you?" With that the four of us took two carriages and headed towards the prison where O'brackley was being held. The prison was a dark gloomy place with little light. Harrison was just sitting there on the damp stone floor.

"What the hell do you want?" Harrison asked angrily.

"I am about to tell you the truth about what happened on the night you stabbed Ronan." Sherlock replied. Ronan glared at Harrison angrily but Harrison showed no remorse.

"Explain then Holmes your deductions." Ronan demanded.

"When I first met you it did seem like I was about to encounter a strange case even before you began to tell me about Vincent." Sherlock said.

"But how could you tell?" Ronan questioned.

"It does seem reasonable that one member of Vincent's pack killed your father and it does seem logical that Vincent sent Holland to kill your mother but what attracted my attention was the fact that you were stabbed to begin with."

"What do you mean?" Ronan asked.

"You told us that apart from your drink, you and your mother ate practically the same things to eat."

"That is correct."

"If that is the case why bother to try and murder you at a separate time. Wouldn't it be easier to kill you along with your mother? Why poison the wine your mother only, why not poison the food that you both ate instead." Ronan starred at Holmes.

"But instead Vincent decided to kill you after this incident. What a strange decision. Unless we have miss interpreted the facts."

"You mean that this note…" I began.

"That's the thing Watson, just because the note said ROB doesn't mean it means Ronan Oswald benedict. It could be Rob all by itself, short for Robert."

"But we don't know anyone called Robert, Holmes"

"It could be that the first 2 letters of the note means the first 2 letters of the target's first name and that the last letter means the first letter of his last name."

"But that still implicates me." Ronan shouted.

"Or it could mean that the first letter of the note means the first letter of his first name and the last 2 letters of the note mean the last 2 letters of his last name." Silence rung out. "That was the correct way to view the letter wasn't it Harrison?" Harrison nodded.

"But Holmes, we don't know anyone who has a name like that either." I said.

"We don't?" Sherlock chuckled merrily. "Watson who do we know with a surname that begins with OB."

"The only person I can think of that fits that criteria is Harrison O'brackley."

"You see Watson Dick is short for Richard and Dick Brackley's real surname is O'brackley meaning that ROB didn't mean Ronan Oswald Benedict but Richard O'brackley."

"In that case how come Harrison stabbed the wrong person?" I asked.

"I forgot what the code meant." Harrison replied simply.

"That's it!" Ronan yelled angrily. "I went through hell and back all because you just forgot a code."

"I have just one more question for you Harrison, how are these notes delivered?"

"Nothing special, Vincent writes the target on a piece of paper and then gives it to Holland who in turn gives it to me."

"There was a boy in your father's works called Daniel Broadhurst I believe." Holmes asked Ronan. "That would explain why Vincent used the term ROB instead of DBR."

"Grrrrrr…." Harrison growled.

"Well Watson only one thing to do now. Take down Vincent Von Galore and his last remaining henchman."


	12. Chapter 12

Eventually we managed to force Harrison into revealing the location of Vincent Von Galore. It turned out despite his wealth he was hiding out in a slum used by the lower classes. I guessed he felt that living in a mansion would attract too much attention. We walked to the slum together as it was not far from the prison which held Harrison.

"This must be it Watson." Holmes announced his head buried in a piece of paper which contained directions to Vincent's hideout written by Harrison. The slum itself looked ugly and dirty just like most houses did in this area of London. Sherlock placed a key Harrison gave us into the lock. The door unlocked and we went inside. It was much nicer on the inside than on the outside. It looked just like a luxurious manner. I guessed that Von Galore senior must have had it renovated before his death.

It was not a huge building so we went to one of the rooms on the downstairs. Vincent Von Galore was sitting on a chair drinking tea. He looked up and dropped the cup onto the floor. I guess he wasn't expecting us to be here.

"YOU!" He shouted. "How did you get in?"

"Harrison O'brackley is under arrest. The police will be here any minute to arrest you."

"You can't do this" Vincent said "I haven't even begun my operation to destroy the stupid country town."

"You were treated unkindly there weren't you?" I asked in a more sympathetic voice.

"Yes…" Vincent said. "You don't know what it's like to be born into a family of criminals. My father was well in the inner circle of the original Golden Dagger, supplying them with the money necessary to carry out their horrific deeds. Assassination being their primary objective."

"And you hated them for that?" I asked.

"Of course I hated them for it" Vincent shouted completely losing the calmness he displayed to us in our earlier encounters. "My father supplied them with vicious alcohol which ruined the lives of many individuals including 2 innocent policemen who were trying to stop him."

"And you killed him?" Holmes asked.

"Yes" Vincent said in a very delightful tone. "I used his own alcohol to get him severely drunk; then I sent to him to my friend's father. I was glad he told me that he was a quack. Of course he died; but then I remembered that my friend had a similar problem to me. He had parents who were criminals."

"They too were members of the Golden Dagger's inner circle" I added.

"Really" Vincent said with great surprise. "I hoped that good old Ronan would appreciate it if I sent my underlings over to kill his parents and give him the freedom that I had once my father died."

"Did you know what happened to him?" Sherlock asked.

"Actually no, please tell me."

"Your ambitions had a reverse affect. Ronan wasn't grateful for it at all; in fact he was terrified of you."

"What…" Vincent said slowly and quietly.

"It was Ronan who sent us after you, he was thought he killed his parents in revenge, he thought you were out to get him."

Vincent looked to the ground. "He saw my gift as a punishment?"

"Yes" I replied.

Tears came rushing own Vincent's eyes. "All I ever wanted to do was to help fix the world that my father destroyed. That's why I came up with reviving the Golden Dagger. I hoped to fix the mistakes of the world by creating fear. I thought if people believed that the public thought that they would be killed if they committed crimes therefore eliminating crime in London and possibly all of England as well. I would never believe that the one person who befriended me had started to hate me." Vincent wiped his eyes. "Very well Holmes, I'll call the death threat off; I don't want to cause anymore misery that I've already created."

"I'm afraid that is not possible" Sherlock announced.

"I beg your pardon" Vincent said puzzlingly.

"Vincent; all the time you were just a cab driver, driving your passenger to his destination."

"Who then Holmes, who was using me?" That was the last words I ever heard Vincent Von Galore junior speak. He was immediately grabbed from behind by someone just entering the room from another entrance. The mystery man dragged him into the room he entered by. It occurred to me then that I didn't lock the door once I entered the building. Someone must have entered the building and captured Vincent from behind; maybe he shadowed us on our way here.

We ran into the room the mysterious attacker dragged Vincent into. Vincent was lying on the floor with a bleeding head. His attacker was standing next to him with a silver revolver in his hand.

"Surprised to see me Sherlock Holmes."


	13. Chapter 13

I looked at the man holding the gun next to Vincent. Fortunately it looked like he used the revolver to hit Vincent round the head rather than shooting him. The boy was Holland, Vincent's second in command.

"Actually Holland I did expect to see you here" Holmes said. "You are a servant here after all, it would make sense to see you here." Holland just stared at him.

"Seriously Holmes is that the best you've got."

"Holland I suspected you right from the very start of our investigation. Before I've even met you I had a feeling you would do something like this."

"You're just bluffing Holmes, I can tell. Unless his body language is telling me otherwise, your partner doesn't seem to understand how you've come to such a conclusion. Please elaborate." Holland lifted the gun aiming it at Sherlock's heart. I must admit that I find it hard to believe how Holmes could make such a conclusion. Holland may have been second in command in Vincent's Golden Dagger but we were ever interested in Vincent and Harrison.

"As I've told Vincent it was Ronan Benedict who asked for my services. He described every one of the employees of his father's practice to me. One thing that interested me about you Holland was your salary. You were paid 5 times as much as all the other employees I believe."

"That is correct. I was responsible for many important documents which could easily lead to the arrests of the Eelstones."

"Yes… then explain to me Holland why you would ditch so much money?"

"What?" Holland said sounding confused.

"Holland When I spoke with Timothy and Dick they both seemed in reasonable health so the salaries being paid out at the Eelstone's practice couldn't be too bad to the average employee. You were paid 5 times more than them; so when Vincent came round asking for servants I struggle to see why you of all people would join up… unless you had a very specific reason."

"I was ashamed of myself with working with those monsters who murdered innocent people. I wanted to get away from them." Holland said very fast as if it just came into his head, which I thought to myself it probably did.

"But that didn't stop you from helping Vincent with numerous murders across the country." Homes added.

"That isn't enough to prove anything though Mr Holmes." Holland shouted angrily.

"True, but I suspected you again after we spoke to Timothy Handler. He claimed that a child who he could recognise yet not remember asked him about the Baker Street Irregulars. It could not have been Harrison as Timothy would have immediately recognised him."

"And why could it not have been Vincent?" Holland asked.

"That's not Vincent's style. He always either gets either you or Harrison to do his work or he goes with either you two if he wants to go somewhere."

"Timothy claimed there was only 1 child Holmes." I reminded him.

"Exactly; There are only person who I could think of would be you who."

"Interesting… but why would I want to know about a group of street urchins?" He more or less confirmed that Sherlock was right by his confession that he knew what the Baker Street Irregulars were.

"Somebody attempted to kill Dick Brackley, a member of the Baker Street Irregulars. You merely wanted to know their location."

"But why the hell would I want to kill Dick Brackley?" Holland asked.

"We know that Dick Brackley paid a spy called Alexander Gortmand to get information on someone. Considering Harrison had the target note implicating him, whoever Gortmand was spying on it must have been either Vincent or you. I severely doubt it was Vincent. He after all told the police and myself that he was going to destroy Hallovoy so he can't have too many secrets. So that only leaves you."

"When Dick Brackley began to blackmail me I immediately made Harrison kill both Gortmand and Brackley. One was a success. The other not so. Still it doesn't matter too much, I spoke with Timothy to track him down and when I eventually worked out where Dick I used Gortmand's death to intimidate him."

"That one action pretty much gave you away as you evidently had something to hide from Von Galore and O'brackley."

"I see" Holland said quietly. "I will admit that I am impressed by you Mr Holmes, but you still can't prove my motivation."

"Although I can't prove it, It is highly probable that you were the 10 year old son of the Jarkins family; the instigators of the original Golden Dagger. I believe you are merely trying to restart the Golden Dagger."

"When Vincent Von Galore came round asking for servants I wasn't going to leave his father's resources just for Vincent. I planned to use them to my advantage. However once I realised what Vincent was up to, I decided to take over the Golden Dagger for myself. When the town of Hallovoy gets destroyed I will publicly take my stance and declare the new Golden Dagger open for business, not run by the pathetic little freak, but myself Holland Jarkins HA HA HA HA HA!" Holland cackled.

"You won't get away with this." I declared.

"JUST WATCH ME!" Holland screamed as he lifted the gun towards me. Before I knew it I saw metal fly at me as I was knocked down to the floor with my head bleeding.


	14. Chapter 14

"Ha ha ha ha ha" I heard Holland cackle. I heard the sound of a switch and the opening of a trap door. Holland must have planned this escape route thoroughly.

"Watson, are you OK?" I heard Sherlock say.

"I think so" I replied. It did hurt having an entire revolver being thrown in your face. I picked it up. Owning a revolver myself I could tell that this was merely a fake, probably used for threatening purposes.

"Come on Watson, we need to stop Holland from executing his plot" Holmes said. We both went down the trap door and it led to another room which contained two carriages. It was then when I realised how Vincent Von Galore had intended on destroying Hallovoy. On one of the carriages there was a giant boulder similar to the ones above the cliffs in Hallovoy. It seems so simple now. Holland plans on taking a different boulder from a different location, drive up to the real boulders and release it from the carriage. Police chief Preston Shaw wouldn't be able to do anything.

I saw Holland enter that particular carriage, positioning himself carefully in order to steer the 2 horses which were attached to the carriage. "So long Mr Holmes." Holland said cheerfully, waving his hand before driving off with the boulder.

"Watson, take the other carriage." I heard Sherlock say.

Before it we were on the road. Holland had already got a head start and doubtlessly must know a better route to the cliffs of Hallovoy than we did. However our carriage was also drawn by 2 horses and was a much more faster and lighter vehicle compared to Holland's large heavy carriage with a doubtlessly heavy boulder. If we actually knew a better route we would have reached Holland by now.

"WATSON OVER THERE!" I heard Sherlock shout. Without any doubt I recognised Holland's carriage. Unfortunately I also recognised the cliffs on our right hand side. We were nearly at Hallovoy. I was driving our carriage and we caught up with Holland and actually managed to get level with him. That proved to be a huge mistake.

As soon as we caught up with Holland, he slammed his carriage right into ours. Once he did that he slammed into it again and again and again. Either we would be thrown right off the cliffs or the carriage would be damaged beyond repair, and subsequently we would lose Holland.

SLAM! As another one of Holland's attacks bashed right into our carriage. I was thrown off my feet, the hoses running in a straight line.

"Watson your revolver" I heard Holmes say, not ask as he took my revolver from my pocket and fired twice.

Holmes had shot the wheels of Holland's carriage; it was spinning around frantically until it crashed into one of the boulders. That indicated to me that we must have been at Hallovoy, Preston was certainly right when he said those boulders were dormant as it didn't move at all.

"What in the devil happened?" I heard a voice shout. It was Preston, accompanied with two police officers. I investigated Holland. At the very least he must have been in serious pain. I had a look at his body, it wasn't a pretty sight. Holland's head was covered in blood. I felt his chest. There was no heartbeat. Holland had died as a result of the crash.

"Holmes" I said quietly.

"What is it Watson?" Holmes asked.

"Holland is dead."

Holmes nodded his head. "It is nothing more than he deserved."

"But Holmes he is only a child."

"So; you were less sympathetic about other villains who were killed as a result of our actions."

"But he's a child Holmes; he still had his whole life ahead of him."

"And he abused that potential future he had quite considerably. To some degree his plot was even more evil than other adult villains we faced."

"I don't know what you 2 are talking about." Preston said. "But you 2 will have to come over to the station for some questioning; come along now." He looked pleased with himself, finally having something to do. Holmes immediately went over to him. I stayed with Holland's corpse a bit longer before reluctantly going over to him as well.

THE END


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